(Image: PA Archive/PA Images)

Champion Bumper second Heads Up is due to take the next step in his promising early hurdling career at Cheltenham on Friday.

John McConnell's five-year-old was runner-up in the biggest National Hunt Flat event of the season at the same track in March, the culmination of a productive campaign.

He returned to action to make his hurdling debut at Listowel in September, and despite a few green leaps he was a comfortable winner when crossing the line two lengths ahead of his nearest rival.

The Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle now beckons, a rise in both calibre and trip, for the two-mile five-furlong trip Grade Two.

"He's good, all being well he's going to Cheltenham on Friday for the Grade Two," said McConnell.

"It's big step up from his run at Listowel but h

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